Madidi Monster
Scientific American recorded that a specimen of this sauropod was allegedly killed and preserved by order of the President of Bolivia in he late 1800s. Since then this colossal dinosaur has been reported in numerous nations throughout the Amazon Basin. In1883, in an letter entitled “A Bolivian Saurian” to the Editor of the Journal of Science, by William A. E. Axon, we have recorded what – if true – is arguably the most astounding zoological report in recorded history: “Sir,—The ‘Anglo-Brazilian Times,’ March 24th, 1883, says that the Brazilian Minister at La Paz, Bolivia, has remitted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Rio photographs of drawings of an extraordinary Saurian killed on the Beni after receiving thirty-six balls. By order of the President of Bolivia the dried body, which had been preserved at Asuncion, was sent to La Paz. It is 12 metres long from snout to point of the tail, which latter is flattened. Besides the anterior head, it has, 4 metres behind, two small but completely formed heads rising from the back. All three have much resemblance to the head of a dog. The legs are short, and end in formidable claws. The legs, belly, and lower part of the throat appear defended by a kind of scale armour, and all the back is protected by a still thicker and double cuirass, starting from behind the ears of the anterior head, and continuing to the tail. The neck is long, and the belly large and almost dragging on the ground. Professor Gilveti, who examined the beast, thinks it is not a monster, but a member of a rare or almost lost species, as the Indians in some parts of Bolivia use small earthen vases of identical shape, and probably copied from Nature.” It goes without saying, that the description of this animal as being three headed, like some bizarre half-HYDRA, is strange to say the least. Later, in the early part of the 20th century, British officer Percy Fawcett saw an animal that he felt must be a dinosaur. Explorer Leonard Clark, in his 1953 book “The Rivers Ran East,” recorded the event thusly: “In 1907 Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fawcett of the British Army was sent to mark the boundaries between Brazil and Peru. He was an officer in the Royal Engineers and was well known as a meticulous recorder of facts. In the Beni Swamps of Madre de Dios Colonel P. H. Fawcett saw an animal he believed to be Diplodocus… The Diplodocus story is confirmed by many of the tribes east of the Ucayali, a region covered by Clark.” Clark continued to chronicle South American native stories of herbivorous, long-necked animals (most of which are uncannily similar to tales of the African MOKELE-MBEMBE) with a penchant for attacking unwary boaters: “Speaking of reptiles, old boy, Colonel Fawcett reached the eastern edge of Madre de Dios, out where you are going. It is a country of swamps apparently. One day while running his dugouts through it, he saw a great reptilian head rise out of the jungle, but before he could shoot, the head was lowered. From the noise the beast made getting away, he took it to be some sort of dinosaur. His Indians revolted and it was necessary to return to Mato Grosso. When I smiled, he presently added, ‘Don’t be too sure they don’t exist – we hear a great many stories from the Indians here!’” Fawcett’s son, Brian, confirmed his father’s claims and drew an image of him looking at the creature’s tracks. In his book, “Exploration Fawcett,” Brian Fawcett spoke about reports of large monsters inhabiting the swamps near the Madidi River in Bolivia: “There are snakes and insects unknown to scientists, and in the forests of the Madidi some mysterious and enormous beast has frequently been disturbed in the swamps -possibly a primeval monster like those reported in other parts of the continent. Certainly tracks have been found belonging to no known animal – huge tracks, far greater than could have been made by any species we know.” Sadly the dessicated corpse of the Madidi Monster, that was allegedly moved to La Paz at the President’s request, has never seen the light of day. Could proof that dinosaurs still walk the Earth be hidden – much like Indiana Jones’ Lost Ark – in some dusty, unmarked crate deep inside a Bolivian government warehouse? Perhaps one day some unwitting janitor will stumble across the zoological find of the millennium and change the natural history text books forever! Category:All Cryptids Category:South America Category:Living Dinosaurs Category:Reptile Category:Herbivore